“I entered the house and a girl with cerebral palsy was sitting in the room. Because of her disability she could not talk. I looked at her and noticed some grey hair. I gave her a hug and she looked at me in such a way that I cannot forget those eyes. This horrible war has taken childhood from the children and from some it has taken their fathers. The war has ruined the lives of so many people, especially children and people with disabilities.” Grygoriy Voloshchuk, the coordinator of the trip, shared these heartbroken impressions.
This trip to the Kherson region was the most risky of those the team from Agape Ukraine has made because the villages they visited are close to the banks of the Dnipro River. In the first village were two hundred houses with 2-3 people in each house, most of retirement age. Many of them were disabled due a stroke, cerebral palsy or diabetes. The team distributed wheelchairs, walkers, under pads, diapers and medication for diabetes. In this village, they also distributed 130 bags of groceries and Easter bread, 150 blankets and 150 bags of cleaning supplies. A generator was given to the village since they lack electricity and, as a result, have no hot water.
There were many children in the next village and the team distributed 50 children’s gifts and 150 bags with candy from our German friends, the magazine ”Stezhynka” and a children’s Bible. They even had to give away the Bible that is typically kept in the bus because one lady did not receive one.
We thank the staff of Agape Ukraine and especially our brave men, Grygoriy Voloshchuk and Igor Godzinskiy, for coordinating the trip to the Kherson region. We are also thankful for the participation of Salvation Baptist Church and their deacon, Serhiy Litvinov.
We are incredibly grateful to all who supported this trip financially or through any other means, including Fimiam Church; Kingdom of God Church; Ksenia Volkova, a family doctor; Pavlo Myronyuk, responsible for the Transformation Charitable Fund; Olga Rubel, responsible for the Mennonite Center Charitable Fund; Light in the East, an organization of the Ukrainian missionary society; The Christian Life mission book factory; Christians from the European Evangelical Alliance; Martina Koninger; Axel Ermke, Felix Schulte and Paul Dolgaard. We are particularly thankful to the Christians of Shonblick Christian Guest Center in Wurtemberg and the first group of refugees with disabilities who live in Shwabish Gmund. We are thankful to the Volyn Regional State Administration for resolving organizational issues. If God allow, the next trip is planned for the end of April.
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